Improv Everywhere

Portuguese artist Patrick Krzyzanowski’s paintings of professional wrestlers exaggerate the already ludicrous “sport” with its gaudy costumes, showmanship and over the top violence, which has long been a pillar of American pop culture – especially amongst guys. In this interview with Vice, he explains the inspiration behind his work:

Improv Everywhere, a “comedic performance art group” has carved quite a name for itself especially in New York City with their various “culture jamming” stunts or what they call “missions” (mentioned previously right here). Some involve the recruitment of sometimes hundreds of people (See: Annual No Pants subway rides and MP3 summer missions) and others which involve just the members or “agents” of the improv group who take a surprised and sometimes confused public along for a fun and magical ride, such as their latest act. This time six agents enact a musical in a grocery store in Astoria, Queens.

Volkswagen is trying to encourage more responsible behavior, such as recycling by incentivizing people with what they call the “Fun Theory” where the idea is that “something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better.” I especially like their concept for urging people to take the stairs instead…